


Honed

by penny



Category: Baccano!, Soul Eater
Genre: Community: kink_bingo, Crossover, F/M, Knifeplay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-06-23
Updated: 2009-06-23
Packaged: 2017-10-04 09:27:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penny/pseuds/penny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stein tests the suitability of Claire and Chane's partnership.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Honed

**Author's Note:**

> For Kink Bingo, knifeplay.
> 
> Additional warning for Stein fetishizing teenage!Chane's weapon form, and blood and pain as a substitute for sex.

There's very little science behind matching weapons with meisters. For the most part, the Reaper lets everyone choose their own partners, and the pairings are usually predictable. Stein's sized up enough students to know which souls will be drawn together and has formed some basic theories of soul compatibility based on his observations, but the Reaper has made it clear there's to be no real research.

At times, Stein wonders if the Reaper's afraid such research is too much like witches' work. It's a shame. True, witches are dangerous, and their knowledge is often dangerous, but to close off an avenue of study simply because it's uncomfortable...

Ah. He's getting distracted. Stein reaches for his screw and gives it a quarter turn. The weapon/meister pairings are usually predictable. Usually. Tonight, he's testing an unusual pair. Meister Claire Stanfield and weapon Chane Laforet. They shouldn't, according to the Reaper and most of the other teachers at Shibusen, work so well together, and would you mind giving them a test, Stein? See if they really are an acceptable match?

Of course he doesn't mind. Stein hasn't had much involvement in this crop of students. Still, the Laforets are known for producing superior knives, and the name Stanfield is familiar. Ah yes, the redheaded youngster taken in by his old classmate, Gandor. So, the boy ended up being a meister? Not too surprising. All the biological Gandors are meisters, and if Stein's theories are right -- not that he's allowed to develop them -- there are environmental as well as genetic factors in determining if one is a meister, weapon, or merely human.

In a household of meisters, it's not surprising Claire Stanfield developed into one. Stein flips through the boy's file. His evaluations are full of comments like "acts as if the world exists for his entertainment" and "reckless, flamboyant, and self-absorbed". On paper, he's a poor match for Chane Laforet, a beautiful precision blade, one keener than Stein's scalpels.

But paper doesn't carry the soul. Stein lights a cigarette and watches them from his lab. Chane is silent, scanning the woods for traps and enemies. She's a tall girl, pale and thin, a bit coltish, but Stein can see her potential. There are pictures of her in weapon form in her file, her blade slim and sharp, its surface shimmering, even in the photographs. That's the woman she'll grow into. Elegant. Capable. Dangerous.

He wonders what she'll feel like slicing into him. Stein gives his screw another turn. He's not likely to find out tonight, though on the screen, Claire seems confident he'll win any fight. He's striding along in front of Chane like he owns the woods. His hands are even in his pockets, and the arrogance makes Stein wish he had set more traps.

Ah, not as inattentive as he seems. Claire neatly sidesteps the first trip wire, avoids the second one -- the true trap -- set behind it. He's laughing, though Stein has the sound muted. He wants to see how these two work. What they're saying would just be noise. Distracting noise.

Still, when they reach his lab and they actually fight, they're not going to land a blow. Stein's gaze drifts back to Chane, but he's not seeing the girl. He's seeing the blade. Her keen edge.

He probably wouldn't feel her at first. That first slice...it would glide along him, fast and deep and cold. It would take a moment for his blood to realize it was free. And then...he shudders. Then the perfect pain. Cold and sharp.

Hmmm. He's letting himself get distracted. He focuses on the monitor again, and this time, he's seeing Chane, the lanky teenager. Her elbows are sharp, and Stein has to devote his attention to Claire again, because her angles make him think of her true form, and her true form makes him think of his scalpels, how they feel when he cuts his own skin, and that makes him think about how she'd feel, and that makes him...well, that makes him an ineffective judge of her compatibility with her current meister.

Claire sets off the next trap. He's looking over his shoulder at Chane, seemingly not paying attention, but there's a knowing curve to his smile, and his hands are out of his pockets now, so he's ready for Chane. And the speed of her transformation is evidence enough of her alertness. There's no hesitation on her part, no fumbling on Claire's. Learning to accept a weapon is the most basic task of a meister, just as learning to accept a meister is the most basic task of a weapon. It can take months for a pairing to learn how to resonate so the meister can simply hold the weapon.

Claire rolls to the side, missing the log that swings down at them. He's quick on his feet, and Stein recalls another note, one of Sid's, from the boy's file: "His quick reflexes, excellent balance, and unpredictable nature puts his opponents off balance." Yes, Stein can see that.

He makes a note in the file. So far, the two are a good match.

They don't trip any more of his traps. Maybe the traps are not subtle enough. Perhaps he should have set up a more difficult test. He lights another cigarette. Well, they still have to face him.

He rolls his chair away from the monitors. The wheels catch on the tiles, make a nice counterpoint to the threads of his screw as he tightens it another quarter turn, considering. What he wants is so much more than what he needs to make his evaluation. What he wants is Chane slicing across his chest, or perhaps down his arm, a well-earned defensive wound. And while she's distracted by the give of his flesh, the taste of his blood, he'd immobilize her with his soul threads.

It wouldn't be as elegant as what he could do with Spirit-sempai, but it would be interesting to see her reaction. No, Stein corrects himself. Their reaction. Chane is a weapon, and she's not yet skilled enough to use herself. So she can only cut him if Claire's capable enough of landing a blow.

He's timed his journey outside well. He makes it to the front porch before them, and he has enough time to settle into an appropriately bored pose, his arms folded over the back of his chair. "Welcome," he says.

Claire flashes him a quick grin. "Those were some pretty lame traps."

"Ah, well, I didn't want to wear you out." Stein cocks his head to one side.

"Tch." Claire's rolling Chane over his knuckles so her blade catches the moonlight. It's a distraction, Stein realizes too late. Claire's already moving, and he's faster than he appeared on the monitors. "You want to see us fight, right?"

Stein barely has time to roll away. Claire's right where he was, already adjusting to Stein's absence, and he...flips. There's a feather light touch on Stein's shoulder, and Stein can't tell if it was intentional -- a tease -- or if his abrupt motion to the left saved him from an actual blow.

Compared to Claire, his movements are clumsy. Inelegant. Part of it is cultivated inelegance. People underestimate the bumbling professor who can't even roll into a room on his office chair without tipping over. But part of it is that he's not as graceful as Claire. He can see that just by thirty seconds of in-person observation.

He can't do this from his chair. Stein rises to his feet and smiles. He tries to keep it from going manic, but he's not sure he can. Claire's answering grin has the same edge. Stein laughs. So he finally has a kindred spirit of sorts.

Claire's soul wavelength brushes against him. It's wild and red and bloodthirsty, and also infinitely patient and impatient. Stein can feel Chane's soul, too, calming and sliver and equally as bloodthirsty, but narrow, focused. Stein can end the test now. He's got everything he needs to report that yes, these two are a good match. A perfect match, in fact. Claire encompasses everything, and Chane takes all that passion and focuses it.

But Stein doesn't want to end the test. How keen is their focus? How much resonance do they have? If they're separated, can they recover?

If he takes Chane from Claire, could he use her to cut him?

Chane seems to sense that thought. Stein feels her wince, and then her focus snaps so her soul wavelength feels as sharp as her blade.

Then Claire's moving again. He's so fast, Stein can't trust his eyes. He has to rely on his soul perception, on Chane, because Claire really does seem to be everywhere. There. Behind him. Stein ducks and twists, sweeping his leg out, but Claire is already gone.

Ah, the left now. Again, Stein can't connect, but he's starting to get a feel for them. The fourth try, he manages to graze Claire's thigh. The fifth blow connects with Claire's chest. He's got their wavelength analyzed by then, but he waits until their next flurry to disrupt it with his soul wavelength.

He does have to give Claire credit. It takes two blasts to force Chane from his hand, and another one paired with a physical blow to his stomach to make him double over.

And Stein has to give Chane credit. She's as quick as Claire, and while she can't wield herself as a knife, she's more than capable of throwing a punch. It takes Stein by surprise, but he's fast enough to counter.

"Hey now," Claire says. He probably doesn't sound as carefree as he'd like, but his grin is nowhere near as strained as his voice. "It's rude to hit a lady."

"I see nothing but a meister and weapon to analyze."

"Oh yeah?" Claire straightens up, takes a deep breath, and then Chane's back in his hand.

Stein blinks. He hadn't felt her transform. When he disrupted their wavelength, separated them, forced her back to her human form, she had --

Ah. He'd left an opening, and the two of them had spotted it. Heh. So he'd get his defensive wound after all. He does actually have enough time to avoid it. Or to disrupt their resonance again. But he wants Chane so much.

And ah, she doesn't disappoint! Her edge is so sharp that Stein doesn't feel it. Not really. Not at first. She's cold, both the steel of her blade and the slice of her soul. He's the one who brings warmth to the wound, the heat of his blood, the fire of his nerves.

Stein shudders.

Most students would draw back at this point, shocked they had even landed a blow on a professor. That just doesn't happen at Shibusen. The professors are so far beyond the students that surely connection is an accident, something allowed by the instructor.

But Claire doesn't think that way. Even if Stein couldn't feel it in the boy's soul, the look in Claire's eyes would be enough evidence. And Chane doesn't think that way, either. Stein can feel her determination. It doesn't matter that he's a professor. Right now, he's their opponent, and they will defeat him.

Stein allows them another blow. He can't help it. They're aiming for his thigh, and he can see it. The cut blossoms in his mind before they're on him, and it makes his whole body sing. He shouldn't be hard for this, shouldn't be wanting this, but it's probably the last time he'll get a chance to feel Chane so he just lets them come.

Because there's something else he can tell from their resonance. Shibusen is too small for them. They'll realize that soon, and then they'll leave.

The cut is deep. Stein shudders again. He swallows a low moan, but he's sure Chane -- and possibly Claire -- feels it.

"Professor?" It's Claire who speaks, but when Stein opens his eyes, Chane's the one pressing a handkerchief to his thigh. "You could have dodged."

"The point of the test," Stein says, noticing, idly, how cold Chane's fingers are, "wasn't just to see how well you function as a team."

Claire eyes the house behind them, then considers Stein's clothes. "Well," he says, somehow managing to look both sheepish and crafty, "at least we know you can sew yourself up."

"Yes." He lets Claire pull Chane away and watches them leave, keeping the handkerchief pressed against his thigh with his uninjured arm. He raises the other and licks the blood from his wound. That one's shallow, just a scratch, really, so it probably won't scar. But the one on his thigh will.

Neither student looks back. There's a nagging pain in his chest that has nothing to do with his wounds. Stein cocks his head to the side and tries to identify the feeling. Jealously?

Yes, he's a bit jealous of Claire. The boy has a weapon who will follow him, even if it means leaving Shibusen and her father. If Spirit-sempai had been like that...

Stein shakes his head. No use indulging such thoughts. He turns and limps back into his lab to sew up his thigh and write his report.


End file.
